Device for Shearing Sheep

The idea relates to a device for shearing a sheep based on rotatably engaging blades with a pin connector wherein the cutting sides of the blades are configured to point in opposite directions

Egypt’s New Administrative Capital: A political Economy Analysis on NAC’s Urban Design and Planning

This research investigates the motives behind the construction of a new capital in Egypt. The thesis explores the Egyptian Armed Forces intervention in the urban economy, the governmental urban designs, and the urban planning of Egypt\u27s New Administrative Capital as potential motives for El-Sisi\u27s regime

O papel da cooperação Sul-Sul na construção da solidariedade sindical global : o caso de Gana

Orientador: Hugo Miguel Oliveira Rodrigues DiasDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de EconomiaResumo: Os movimentos sindicais e de trabalhadores têm se envolvido, em algum momento no tempo, na governação dos seus países. Eles podem estar em alianças políticas com os governos no poder e em conformidade com os seus interesses políticos. Por outro lado, eles podem ser meros participantes no discurso sobre políticas públicas. Em termos globais, o grau de influência dos sindicatos está de alguma forma relacionado com a influência dos seus Estados dentro do sistema global. A Globalização tem duas faces; uma para o bem e outra para a transmissão dos efeitos adversos do capitalismo neoliberal, manifestada na afronta global sobre os direitos do trabalho. A natureza global deste desafio requer uma resposta igualmente global. Para este fim, é imperativo o desenvolvimento da cooperação entre trabalhadores com vista a forjar a Solidariedade Sindical Global que transcenda as fronteiras políticas de um Estado. Além disso, existem poucas oportunidades, no plano internacional, para os trabalhadores influenciarem coletivamente a tomada de decisão no seio das organizações internacionais e de integração regional. Por conseguinte, o estudo explorou a Cooperação Sul-Sul (SSC) e a Solidariedade Sindical Global. Elaborou ainda um estudo de caso sobre o Congresso de Sindicatos de Gana (TUC), tendo investigado os caminhos da SSC entre sindicatos no contexto de África. A pesquisa foi conduzida utilizando o referencial teórico da "Teoria do Sistema-Mundo" que examina as questões globais dentro de uma construção relacional de centro/semi-periferia/periferia e que fornece uma compreensão das disparidades existentes dentro dos arranjos de governação global. O estudo descobriu que a cooperação entre sindicatos de diferentes nacionalidades é possível apesar da natureza anárquica e centrada no Estado-Nação do sistema internacional. A cooperação constitui a base para a solidariedade, e para que a solidariedade seja desenvolvida, é necessária a "redução da inveja", a construção de confiança e mecanismos institucionalizados que sustentem essas relações. Foi ainda identificado que o TUC se encontra envolvido em diversos níveis de Cooperação Sindical Sul-Sul que inclui a cooperação trilateral com o Congresso dos Sindicatos Sul-africanos (COSATU) e com o Congresso Nigeriano do Trabalho (NLC). Constatou-se que, no contexto africano, os mecanismos de SSC entre sindicatos são frequentemente fracos. O estudo recomenda, portanto, que estes sejam fortalecidos e institucionalizados a nível (sub) regional e nas organizações de integração regional de forma a conferir aos trabalhadores maior influência nos mecanismos de tomada de decisão do continente. Tais esforços poderão fornecer meios institucionalizados para a expressão da solidariedade em direção a uma gestão descentralizada dos enormes desafios com que se confrontam os trabalhadores numa escala globalAbstract: Labour Movements have been involved at one point in time or the other in the governance of their countries. They may be in political alliances with ruling governments and conform to its political interests. On the other hand, they may be mere participants in public policy discourse. Globally, the degree of influence of Trade Unions is somehow related to the influence of their states within the global system. Globalisation has two faces; one for good and the other for the transmission of the adverse effects of neo-liberal capitalism, manifested in the global affront on working rights. The global nature of this challenge calls for an equally global response. To this end, the development of cooperation among workers for purposes of Global Trade Union Solidarity that transcends the political boundaries of a state is imperative. Also, at the international stage, little opportunity is offered workers to collectively influence decision making within international organisations and regional integration communities. The study therefore explored South-South Cooperation (SSC) and Global Trade Union Solidarity. It further made a case study of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) of Ghana, and then investigated avenues of SSC among Trade Unions within the context of Africa. The research was conducted within the theoretical framework of the `World-Systems¿ analysis which examines global issues within a relational construction of core-semi-peripheral areas and provides an understanding of the disparities that exists within global governance arrangements. The study found out that cooperation is possible among Trade Unions of different nationalities despite the state-centric and anarchic nature of the international system. Cooperation forms the basis for solidarity, and for solidarity to be developed, there is the need for `envy-reduction¿, confidence building and institutionalised mechanisms to sustain relations. It was identified that the TUC of Ghana is engaged in some levels of South-South Trade Union Cooperation, which includes a trilateral with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). Within the context of Africa, it was identified that the mechanisms for SSC among Trade Unions are often weak. The study therefore recommends that these mechanisms should be strengthened and institutionalised at (sub) regional levels and also within regional integration communities to grant workers prominent influence in the decisionmaking mechanisms on the continent. Such efforts will further provide institutionalised avenues for expressing Solidarity towards a decentralised management of the huge challenges that confront workers on a global scaleMestradoEconomia Social e do TrabalhoMestre em Desenvolvimento Econômico550019/2012-0CNP

Double Deep Q-Learning in Opponent Modeling

Multi-agent systems in which secondary agents with conflicting agendas also alter their methods need opponent modeling. In this study, we simulate the main agent's and secondary agents' tactics using Double Deep Q-Networks (DDQN) with a prioritized experience replay mechanism. Then, under the opponent modeling setup, a Mixture-of-Experts architecture is used to identify various opponent strategy patterns. Finally, we analyze our models in two environments with several agents. The findings indicate that the Mixture-of-Experts model, which is based on opponent modeling, performs better than DDQN

POPULAR EMOTIONS IN POPULAR MUSIC: THE HIGHLIFE EXPERIENCE

While the intimate connection between music and emotion has been variously studied, the focus has predominantly been on Western classical music. Different musical features have often been linked to particular emotions (e.g. Major mode = happy, Minor mode = sad). Comparably fewer studies have investigated the link between Popular Musical forms and the expression of emotion focusing on distinctive features. In this paper, we examine the nature of expressiveness in highlife music in relation to how listeners consciously use it for emotional reasons. We look at the place of lyrics as against other distinctive musical features in the identification of the two commonest basic emotions (happiness and sadness). Analysis of the data reveals that whereas specific musical features in highlife may play a role in the communication of happy and sad emotions, the greater emphasis lies in the lyrics.  Article visualizations

A HYBRID APPROACH FOR HIGH QUALITY REAL-TIME TERRAIN RENDERING AND OPTIMIZED A-PRIORI ERROR ESTIMATION

Abstract: This paper describes a hybrid approach for high-quality real-time terrain rendering which combines the advantages of fine-grain triangle-based CPU and GPU-optimized patch-based algorithms with regard to terrain adaptation and CPU-GPU transfer workload. In more detail, our scheme selectively refines a cluster over a regular domain at the granularity of individual triangles to generate highly-adaptive view-dependent geometry. In contrast to pregenerated patches, a substantial reduction of the number of primitives is achieved. To reduce the CPU-GPU workload inherent in triangle-based algorithms, we exploit frame-to-frame coherences by caching refined geometry on local VRAM in combination with an optimized error evaluation. Finally, a significant increase in the performance is reported. Additionally, our work proposes a per-vertex preprocessing scheme for necessary error-bounds calculation that massively exploits current multi-core architectures. This scheme is based on the widely applied longestedge-bisection approach. Compared to current computationally expensive, recursive procedures utilizing the aforementioned subdivision scheme, a performance gain of several orders of magnitude is reported

Operation of a high purity germanium crystal in liquid argon as a Compton suppressed radiation spectrometer

A high purity germanium crystal was operated in liquid argon as a Compton suppressed radiation spectrometer. Spectroscopic quality resolution of less than 1% of the full-width half maximum of full energy deposition peaks was demonstrated. The construction of the small apparatus used to obtain these results is reported. The design concept is to use the liquid argon bath to both cool the germanium crystal to operating temperatures and act as a scintillating veto. The scintillation light from the liquid argon can veto cosmic-rays, external primordial radiation, and gamma radiation that does not fully deposit within the germanium crystal. This technique was investigated for its potential impact on ultra-low background gamma-ray spectroscopy. This work is based on a concept initially developed for future germanium-based neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments.Comment: Paper presented at the SORMA XI Conference, Ann Arbor, MI, May 200

She Had To Go and Lose It At The Astor

Illustration of top hat, martini glasses, music notes, stars, circles, and instrumenthttps://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/cht-sheet-music/12227/thumbnail.jp